Issue Date: 22 March 2013 Inability of employers to provide ...

Issue Date: 22 March 2013
Inability of employers to provide Immigration Advice
Context
Anyone providing advice about New Zealand immigration matters must be licensed, unless
they are exempt. Employers are not able to provide immigration advice to their employees
as they are not exempt. Employers may pass publicly available information to an employee
that they can obtain for themselves, but they cannot add their own knowledge of, or personal
experience in immigration to advise, assist or direct an employee.
The Immigration Advisers Authority has published the attached factsheet, entitled Factsheet
for Employers: What to do when your employee needs immigration advice to assist
employers.
Action
Please ensure staff are aware of the limitations on employers providing immigration advice
in their encounters with employers. The factsheet provides useful guidance.
DOL12301IAAFactsh
eetforEmployers.pdf
The factsheet can be accessed here http://www.iaa.govt.nz/adviser/educatorsemployers.asp.
Updates to the List of Qualifications Exempt from Assessment (Appendix 3) and
Qualifications Recognised as an Exception (Appendix 8)
This communication provides further information on recent updates to the List of
Qualifications Exempt from Assessment (Appendix 3) and the list of Qualifications
Recognised as an Exception (Appendix 8), effective from 8 April 2013 as set out in
AmendmentCircular2013-05
List of Qualifications Exempt from Assessment (Appendix 3)
The following country lists in Appendix 3 have been updated:
• Australia,
• Germany (Academic),
• Germany (Craft and Trade Qualifications),
• Germany (Technical Vocational Qualifications),
• Ireland (Academic Qualifications),
• Malaysia,
• South Korea, and
• Sri Lanka.

Qualifications Recognised as an Exception (Appendix 8)
The country list for Germany in Appendix 8 has also been updated.
Changes
The updates to country lists may include:
• addition and removal of qualifications,
• addition and removal of institutions,
• changes to qualification levels, and
• changes to qualification awarding dates.
Information for SMC teams
SMC officers should note the following information was emailed to people with an
Expression of Interest (EOI) in the pool and potential applicants who have been invited to
apply (ITA) for residence on 19 March 2013:
• People with an EOI in the pool who have claimed points for a qualification from one of
the updated country lists will be advised that they should check Appendix 3 and/or
Appendix 8. If their EOI is affected by the changes to Appendix 3 or 8, they are required
to update their EOI.
• People with an ITA who have claimed points for a qualification from one of the updated
country lists will be advised that they should check Appendix 3 and/or Appendix 8. If
there is a change to the points awarded for their qualification, they are required to update
their residence application form and initial the change.
Applicants will be informed that they may need to obtain an International Qualification
Assessment (IQA) from the New Zealand Qualifications Authority if:
• their qualification was removed,
• their qualification was not obtained within the relevant awarding dates specified on the
list,
• their qualification is from an institution which is no longer included in Appendix 3 or 8, or
• they need to apply for an IQA where Appendix 3 or Appendix 8 states that they may do
so if they believe their qualification may be higher than the level stated.
Reports of affected EOIs on-hand or ITAs in progress
Service Support will send reports to SMC Immigration Managers with details of potentially
affected EOIs on-hand and ITAs in progress before 8 April 2013. The reports will assist
SMC officers to identify EOIs/ITAs which may be affected so EOIs on-hand can be updated
and people can be contacted if required.
See AmendmentCircular2013-05 for the changes to immigration instructions.

ITA – UNLAWFUL PERSONS
Context:
There has been a recent case where an unlawful person in New Zealand was invited to
apply for residence (ITA) under the Skilled Migrant Category (SMC) and that person was not
advised that the Immigration Act 2009 (the Act) specifically prohibits an unlawful person from
lodging an application for residence (refer to the sections 71 (4); 20 and 169 (1) (a) of the
Act).
Action:
When considering whether to ITA a person in New Zealand under the relevant category
(SMC, Parent Category, Investor 2), staff must:
1. Check whether the person is lawfully in New Zealand, and
2. In all instances where staff ITA a person who is unlawfully in New Zealand, they must
clearly advise them that an unlawful person cannot apply for residence while in New
Zealand by using the relevant attached ITA letter (these letters will also be available on
AMS from next week).
V294a ITA covering
letter - unlawful perso
V283a Investor 2 ITA
- unlawful person.doc
E18a Parent category
ITA - unlawful person.